Kerfuffle windfalls

[vulgarweed]

One thing that for me has come out of my fortunately-very-limited participation in recent spitsfests over the merits and irritations of Certain Archives has been this revelation:

In Tolkien fandom, those of us who read and write both het and slash and things in-between can have a hard time of it on the archive front. Mind you, I'm fine with putting my slash stuff up at Library of Moria and my het stuff at Open Scrolls, but then there are things like this, which are kind of both and neither (Thank you, Tolkien Fan Fiction! And I'm interested in writing and reading many more stories that blur the boundaries, or just refuse to honor that silly distinction in the first place.

So I really enjoy this community: hp_bitextual, and I'm wondering if there's interest in a sort of Arda Bitextual. (All time periods/cultures/characters inclusive).

What say you? Mind you, I'd still have to ask the hp_bitextual folks if they mind other fandoms nipping their M.O.

Comments

[teasel.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the link to Tolkien Fan Fiction; it's a beautifully designed site, and I love the idea of a place that does not over-insist on the distinction between slash and gen. I hadn't heard of TFF before (like everyone and her sister I'm on the HA mailing list and am archived at HASA, but must admit that I haven't kept track of doings at either place for a very long time, apart from popping into HASA now and again to review stories).

Um, I have a curiousity question: I call it that to wave a big flag that says "harmless! harmless!" and to distinguish my question from the sort of question people ask when they intend to start fulminating at some point. I haven't followed the HA list for almost a year, but when I did follow it, HASA itself was more or less HAs archive. Membership in the two was distinct but, well, "Henneth Annun Story Archive" and all that. Um, do you know the reason why TFF seemed necessary to the folks who founded it -- what its distinct mission is that HASA does not fulfill? Oy: even asking the question feels like dipping my toe into a gigantic heaving sea of controversy that I know nothing whatsoever about, but, well, I'm curious, and the FAQ file and rules on the site didn't seem very enlightening on this point.

[teasel.livejournal.com]

ETA Erm, a friend of mine just emailed me with an answer to this question, so if you don't want to go into whys and wherefores here, my (innocent! non-wanky! promise!) curiousity has been assuaged. :)

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

Basically, Mike Kellner (who moderates the HA mailing list), felt that HASA's review system can be very intimidating for newer writers. The whole review system there has become problematic for many reasons, as I'm sure you're aware. So he created an archive without the review system, but which still allows some quality control, as a supplement to HASA.

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

Hee. I appreciate your caution! I would say I'm doing my best to keep my LJ a Wank-Free Zone, but that would mean I could never wank myself, and I know myself better. :)

Glad to see your question's already been answered. There are a lot of good writers out there who, for many reasons, don't want to deal with running the HASA gauntlet. I hope TFF proves more welcoming.